North State in brief: May 27, 2016

Trial ordered in employee assault

A 26-year-old Redding man was ordered Thursday to stand trial for assault with a deadly weapon and making threats for allegedly swinging a hammer at a city of Redding employee when he was asked to leave a public restroom where he had been sleeping.

Patrick Francis Brooks is due back in Shasta County Superior Court on June 9 to set a trial date.

Brooks was arrested May 16 after he allegedly assaulted city employee Eric Stevens and threatened to kill him.

Police have said Brooks was sleeping inside the restroom near the Caldwell Park boat ramp when Stevens arrived to clean the facility.

Brooks came out of the bathroom with a claw hammer and tried to hit Stevens on the head, but Stevens was able to avoid being hit, police have said.

A person in the area tried to help Stevens, but by that time Brooks, who was on probation for carrying a concealed weapon, had run away. Officers found and arrested Brooks a short time later, police have said.

Man arrested after cup strikes officer

A 37-year-old Anderson man was arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of threatening his mother with a knife and flinging a cup of coffee at an officer.

Anderson police said they were sent to the 1600 block of Manter Drive at 10 a.m. after receiving reports that Mark Sanchez grabbed his mother by the throat and threatened her with a knife. The mother was able to get away and lock herself in her bedroom, police said.

Officers said they found an agitated Sanchez in the kitchen. They decided against approaching Sanchez and instead attempted to coax him out of the kitchen to talk to him, which further upset Sanchez, according to officers.

Sanchez then picked up a cup of coffee and flung its contents at the closest officer, 'coating him with the beverage,' police said. Sanchez then threw the empty cup, hitting the officer, who was attempting to turn away, in the back of the head.

A second officer used a stun gun on Sanchez, but he continued to charge at officers. Sanchez was taken into custody after a brief struggle. He was treated at a hospital for minor injuries and booked into Shasta County Jail for investigation of assault on an officer, assault and threats to his mother and several other charges, police said.

The officer struck by the coffee cup was treated at the hospital and released, and the second officer was treated on scene.

Arrest made after report of assault

Anderson police arrested a man with a warrant for his arrest after people reported seeing him threatening and assaulting a woman with a knife, officers said.

Officers were sent to McDonald's on McMurray Drive about 2:30 p.m. Thursday after hearing about the assault. Police found the woman in question in the parking lot, who denied any assault had taken place, officers said. She identified her companion as Martin Thietje, 21, of the Redding and Anderson areas.

A records check on Thietje showed he was on felony probation with a felony arrest warrant.

Officers were initially unable to locate Thietje, but several residents told police they saw him in the men's restroom at McDonald's. Officers checked the restroom, found Thietje, and placed him under arrest without incident. He was booked into Shasta County Jail on the warrant.

Both Thietje and the woman were questioned and denied any physical altercation. Officers said there is no indication that Thietje had anything to do with McDonald's other than using it as a hiding spot.

Fatal shooting investigated

Deputies say a man is dead after being found shot in Susanville, The Associated Press reported.

KRNV-TV reported the Lassen County Sheriff's Office found the gunshot victim at a property off Highway 36 in Susanville on Wednesday afternoon.

Emergency responders performed CPR, but the unidentified man was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities say the suspected shooter took off in a vehicle that was parked on the property.

The sheriff's office is investigating.

Man suspected in baseball bat attack

Police arrested a Redding man after he allegedly attacked a person with a baseball bat.

On Wednesday, Brian Justin Pruitt, 46 and Mary Ann Pruitt, 45, confronted a person throwing rocks at a shed at the rear of their residence, said officer Tom Landreth.

When Mary Pruitt tried to speak with the suspect he threatened her and began swinging a baseball bat, said Landreth.

Brian Pruitt intervened and the suspect hit him multiple times on the head, arms and legs with the baseball bat, causing injuries. The suspect ran away after the attack, said Landreth.

Brian Pruitt was treated at Shasta Regional Medical Center.

Redding officers, along with the Neighborhood Police Unit, searched the downtown Redding area and found Jerome Wilson, 25, the suspect in the attack, under the Cypress Avenue Bridge, said Landreth.

Wilson is on post-release supervision for assault with a deadly weapon, said Landreth.

Wilson was arrested and booked into Shasta County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and terrorist threats.

Deputies search for wanted man

Shasta County sheriff's deputies said they are looking for a wanted man after finding stolen property at his home during a probation search.

Deputies also arrested a second man on a felony warrant after he pulled into the driveway of the same home, the sheriff's office said.

Deputies and probation officers Wednesday went to the home in the 11000 block of East Stillwater Way, just east of Redding, to conduct the search and arrest Dustin Warmington for warrants, Sgt. Jose Gonzalez said.

Warmington ran into the woods near his home when deputies arrived and they were unable to find him, Gonzalez said.

They searched the home and found a stolen trailer in the driveway, deputies said. In the trailer and yard were several boxes of stolen property, valued about $10,000, he said.

Deputies contacted the victims, who said they were moving from their home and were burglarized.

'The victims also pointed out that the suspects had furnished their home with the stolen furniture,' Gonzalez said.

While deputies were taking inventory of the stolen items, Michael Mattson pulled into the driveway but sped off after spotting deputies, according to the sheriff's office.

Deputies followed and stopped him about three miles away at Highway 299 near Churn Creek Road. Mattson had a felony burglary warrant and was arrested, Gonzalez said.

Route 3 opens with traffic control

Starting at 7 a.m. Thursday, drivers were able to take Highway 3 now that repairs were made to the section that collapsed in a March landslide.

Construction isn't complete, but motorists can drive on an unpaved surface subject to traffic control, the California Department of Transportation said.

The traffic control will be in place around the clock, seven days a week until construction by Tullis Inc. is complete, Caltrans said. All vehicles will be allowed on the rural state highway through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

Once traffic is flowing, the alternate route that's been available since mid-March at Trinity Dam and Slate Creek will not be maintained by Caltrans, the agency said.

Caltrans said the reconstruction of Highway 3 is expected to be finished by early summer.